


Golden Wings and Blue Eyes

by kate95



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-06
Updated: 2012-11-06
Packaged: 2017-11-18 03:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/556442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate95/pseuds/kate95
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock grew up in the Lab, a place where scientist create mutants using recombinant DNA.  He has spent many years in isolation, causing trouble for the labcoats, and growing what he believed to be a hard, emotionless exterior.  </p>
<p>This universe is loosely based off the Maximum Ride universe created by James Patterson.  You don't need to have read those books in order to understand this story.</p>
<p>Beta'd and Britpicked by the lovely <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3166890/"> Converse on the Tardis </a> and  <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3696037/"> Charante Leclerc </a>. Thanks to both of you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Golden Wings and Blue Eyes

Sherlock was a lab rat. Just an experiment that was a supposed "success."  So successful that the only thing wrong with him - Subject 221B - was his disobedience.  At least, that's how the labcoats saw it.  
  
Sherlock grew up in the lab. In fact, he grew up in the same room he was currently residing in.  It was a small four meter by five meter room, almost completely metal and only lit by the light that came through a steel-framed window.  There were a total of three cages in the room: Sherlock's cage, another slightly smaller one along the wall, and an even smaller cage across the room's small walkway.  Sherlock was the only permanent resident of the room.  Other lab rats never stayed in the room more than a couple of weeks.  
  
Life in the small room and in the Lab was grotesque and awfully unpleasant, and, unfortunately, Sherlock could remember all of it.  He could remember moving through the three cages as he got larger.  He could remember the brutal experiments and tests the labcoats put him through, even as a young child.  Sherlock could easily picture the other lab rats that had resided in the cage next to his.  Most of them were failed experiments.  Only a few managed to survive until they were taken away forever. (Sherlock always assumed they were killed by the labcoats or shipped to other laboratories).  
  
His excellent memory was all thanks to his brilliant mind.  Sherlock had the mental abilities far beyond those of any of the famous, historical scientists, even without the proper education.  The labcoats appreciated his intelligence, perhaps more than he himself did. Besides the tests and experiments, Sherlock found he had no use for it, save for frustrating the labcoats.  Sure, he could have thought of many successful escape plans, but he had only actually tried it once.  Sherlock actually made it a few days in the outside world until security tracked him down and recaptured him.  The higher-ups would never let Sherlock, their most successful project to date, go free.  
  
Because he was the most successful outcome of the labcoats' experiments, Sherlock was the only lab rat (at least in the Lab) to reach teen years.  By Sherlock's own estimation of his age, he was about sixteen years old. 

So that was Sherlock.  A genius teenager in a lab rat's body.  Oh, and Sherlock was born with wings.  Or at least he probably was born with them.  He didn't actually remember life before the Lab.  The wings were something he grew up with.  Sherlock never knew what it is was like to not have wings, so it never seemed abnormal to him even though his black eagle wings were obviously the strangest thing about him. Without those black-feathered wings, no one would ever be able to tell Sherlock's DNA was mixed with that of a black eagle.  
  
Life in the Lab hardened Sherlock, and he refused to show any emotion or weakness.  He trained himself to never feel any emotion at all. Sometimes he thought he may have managed to do it, to make himself void of all emotion, but, deep down, he always knew better.  The task was impossible, even for him.  
  
The experiments and tests Sherlock had to withstand were designed to find his limits and push him past them.  Some of the exercises tested his knowledge and mind power. Other tested his physical abilities. Most tested both.  
  
It was a particularly rough day with the labcoats.  The labcoat in charge of the exercise was acting particularly awful, as he had been having troubles with his marriage ( _No ring today, classic signs of guilt and frustration from latest argument with wife_ ) so of course he took it out on Sherlock.  That labcoat always took it out on Sherlock as revenge for Sherlock's disobedience.  
  
Today, Sherlock had to run along a maze-like path without getting hit by any of the many obstacles.  Every so often he would land on an electrified square he was supposed to jump over, and he would receive an electric shock. Multiple times, while running through a narrow section of the path, Sherlock’s arms and legs would catch onto a sharp object protruding from the wall and receive a gash. The labcoats would not let Sherlock stop running, and if Sherlock showed signs of slowing, he would receive a few hundred volts of electric shock from the cuffs on his wrists.  
  
The labcoats had not pushed Sherlock so far for weeks, and he was ready to pass out upon being returned to his cage, but he knew he better check over the wounds he had received. Nothing was so deep that it would need proper medical attention, but they stung enough to make him thoroughly uncomfortable.  Not to mention Sherlock's whole body was sore.  It wasn’t until he he made himself comfortable as comfortable as he could that he heard a small sound coming from the neighbouring cage.  
Sherlock was used to having new experiments next to him, considering his living situation, but he was not used to them making sounds.  
  
Sherlock adjusted himself so he could easily view his new neighbour.  Nothing could have prepared Sherlock for the sight he saw.  Most of the time, the cage was home to something grotesque, but now,  in the small cage next to his, was a small boy who could not have been more than six years old.  He was huddled in the furthest corner of his cage.  A pair of pale, golden wings surrounded the boy, hiding him from anybody who could walk by. His head was hidden in his hands, and the sniffling that could be heard gave away his hidden tears.  
Sherlock was filled with curiosity and watched the boy.  He had never seen a lab rat like himself.  
  
Before Sherlock could turn away, the young bird boy looked up from his hands and slightly lowered his wings. The boy's eyes were puffy and cheeks flushed as he made eye contact with Sherlock.  Sherlock noticed how scared the boy looked.  Then he spoke. "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" whispered the poor boy.  
  
Sherlock shook his head.  "No, I'm not like them.  I'm like you." He unfurled his wing to prove his point to the bird boy.  From the way the boy's eyes widened, it was clear he had never seen someone like himself before either.  
  
"You're... like me?" Bird Boy whispered. Sherlock nodded and a little grin formed on the boy’s face. "I'm John, though they call me Subject L9A1. What's your name?"  
  
Sherlock frowned a little before answering “Sherlock.” He could hear John quietly repeat the name to himself, as if Sherlock's name was a source of comfort.  
  
"You should sleep now," Sherlock said, "it's getting late." John nodded in response, eager to follow Sherlock's instruction.  
  
John curled his wings around himself once again and Sherlock sat back in the corner of his cage, next to the wall, the furthest corner from the now sleeping John. _This isn't good_ , Sherlock thought. It was best for neither Sherlock nor John to become attached to one another.  Not while they were imprisoned in the Lab.  Sherlock needed to distance himself from everyone. He could not have friends.  
  



End file.
